Shooting kills 2 at Panama City hotel

Published: Monday, July 8, 2013 at 06:41 PM.

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PANAMA CITY — A suspect in the shooting of two people at a local hotel was killed in a shootout with law enforcement on an Interstate 10 exit ramp in Tallahassee early Monday.

Panama City police reported two people were shot multiple times at about 10:45 p.m. Sunday night in the parking lot of the Courtyard by Marriott at 905 E. 23rd Place. A 57 year-old male died at the scene and the 44 year-old female died in a local hospital, according to police.

Names of the victims and the shooter were being withheld Monday morning while family members are notified, law enforcement officials said.

Just before 2 a.m. Monday, the suspect was spotted driving a maroon Dodge Charger along I-10 near North Monroe Street in Tallahassee. After a traffic stop, the suspect began shooting at law enforcement, including the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), investigators said.

“We spotted the murder suspect’s vehicle and initiated a traffic stop,” said Lt. James McQauig, public information officer for the Leon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO). “Shots rang out coming from the suspect’s vehicle with deputies and FHP returning fire.”

Panama City Police Department continue the investigation into the shooting incident at the hotel. They said the believe the victims knew their attacker. Evidence collected at the scene led to a “be-on-the-lookout” for the suspect.

The United States Marshals Florida Regional Task Force also is participating in the investigation as is the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

PANAMA CITY — Police have released the names of two people gunned down Sunday night outside a hotel and the man suspected of shooting them.

Johnny Floyd Graham, 57, of Wilson, N.C., and Vikitha Marcel Briggs, 44, of Callaway, were shot multiple times outside the Courtyard by Marriott on 23rd Place around 10:45 p.m., police said. Graham was pronounced dead at the scene and Briggs died at the hospital.

Panama City Police developed her husband, 51-year-old Glenn Llewellyn Briggs of Lynn Haven, as a suspect and enlisted other local law enforcement agencies to help find him, investigators reported.

Troopers and deputies in Leon County located Glenn Briggs just before 2 a.m. Monday near Tallahassee and attempted a traffic stop. Briggs opened fire from his car and police returned fire. Briggs was shot and died a short time later at a Leon County hospital, according to a news release.

Police continue to investigate. Anyone with information is urged to contact Det. Roger Rossomondo with the Panama City Police Department at 872-3100 or CrimeStoppers at 785-TIPS (8477).

Earlier versions of this story are below:

PANAMA CITY — A suspect in the shooting of two people at a local hotel was killed in a shootout with law enforcement on an Interstate 10 exit ramp in Tallahassee early Monday.

Panama City police reported two people were shot multiple times at about 10:45 p.m. Sunday night in the parking lot of the Courtyard by Marriott at 905 E. 23rd Place. A 57 year-old male died at the scene and the 44 year-old female died in a local hospital, according to police.

Names of the victims and the shooter were being withheld Monday morning while family members are notified, law enforcement officials said.

Just before 2 a.m. Monday, the suspect was spotted driving a maroon Dodge Charger along I-10 near North Monroe Street in Tallahassee. After a traffic stop, the suspect began shooting at law enforcement, including the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), investigators said.

“We spotted the murder suspect’s vehicle and initiated a traffic stop,” said Lt. James McQauig, public information officer for the Leon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO). “Shots rang out coming from the suspect’s vehicle with deputies and FHP returning fire.”

Panama City Police Department continue the investigation into the shooting incident at the hotel. They said the believe the victims knew their attacker. Evidence collected at the scene led to a “be-on-the-lookout” for the suspect.

The United States Marshals Florida Regional Task Force also is participating in the investigation as is the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

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PANAMA CITY — A shooting Sunday night left two people dead, Panama City Police said.

The incident happened at 10:45 p.m. at the Courtyard Marriott located at 905 E. 23rd Place in Panama City.

A 57-year-old male and a 44-year-old female victim were shot multiple times outside the hotel. The male was pronounced deceased at the scene and the female victim was transported to a local hospital, where she later died from her injuries, police said. Witnesses who heard the shots called police and located both of the victims. Initial information was learned that a male suspect fled the area on foot and then got into a newer model maroon Dodge Charger, police wrote in a news release.

Further information was learned that this was not a random act and the victims were targeted by the suspect. A suspect was quickly identified through evidence that was collected in the investigation and assistance was requested from the United States Marshals Florida Regional Task Force to help locate and apprehend the suspect, police wrote.

Members of the task force along with the Florida Highway Patrol apprehended the suspect during a traffic stop along Interstate 10 in Leon County about 1 a.m. Monday, police wrote.

Shots were exchanged during the apprehension and the suspect was injured, they added.

The United States Marshals Office along with other law enforcement agencies are investigating the shooting incident where the suspect was apprehended.

Police say no other suspects are at large and they declined to release the name of the victims pending the notification of their relatives. They also declined to identify the suspect Monday morning citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

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